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  1. GATE CS
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  3. General Aptitude

Choose the most appropriate alternative from the options given below to complete the following sentence: I ___ to have bought a diamond ring. A. have a liking B. should have liked C. would like D. may like

GATE 2012 · General Aptitude · Tenses · medium

Answer: C. would like

  1. Identify the required grammatical structure: The sentence ends with 'to have bought', a perfect infinitive. The blank must be filled with a modal phrase that governs a perfect infinitive to express present desire about a past event.
  2. Eliminate incorrect options: Option A: 'have a liking to have bought' — ungrammatical collocation. Option B: 'should have liked to have bought' — double perfect, unnatural and overly complex. Option D: 'may like to have bought' — 'may like' expresses possibility of liking, not a wish about the past. Option C: 'would like to have bought' — natural, standard expression of present desire for a past action.
  3. Confirm the answer: Substituting Option C: 'I would like to have bought a diamond ring.' — grammatically correct and semantically clear: the speaker presently wishes they had made that purchase in the past.